Biathletes still lacking corporate support

WHISTLER — The F-words punctuated a Biathlon Canada news conference Tuesday, but there was only one that caught everybody’s attention. Yes, the youngest four-man, four-woman entry in the Winter Olympics spoke in unison of focus and finish. They also spoke of funding and a lack of it.

As much as the ‘Bold, Beautiful, Biathlon’ calendar initiative two years ago sparked 6,000 copy sales of the tastefully produced nude pictorial — and $100,000 in funding to aid five members of the national women’s team — lack of national corporate title sponsorship with the 2010 Winter Games on Canadian soil is a sore point.

Say what you want about the Own the Podium program to propel Canada to the most medals. Its funding recommendations and the resources allocated have most sports in the spotlight.

Biathlon appears to be operating in the shadows.

“There was initially an increase in funding for specific projects that were targeted toward equipment, coaching staff levels and since that time we’ve had a small steady decline in the amount of dollars flowing this way,” said Biathlon Canada coach Geret Coyne. “The direct support to the athletes remains an issue. Just to cover the basics of living and support so they can train.”

That’s what made the calendar project by Zina Kocher, Megan Imrie, Megan Tandy, Rosanna Crawford and Sandra Keith both delightful and disturbing. The vision to promote the sport and help defer training costs impressed, but the ripple effect didn’t bring a wave of corporate support. Biathlon doesn’t send pulses racing in Canada because success rarely comes early and it’s harder to promote older athletes. Elite status in the combination of cross-country speed and endurance and shooting accuracy can take a decade to develop. Instead of late 20s, biathlon’s best mature in their early 30s.

“You need to focus on the athletes who are young and slowly getting better and in years to come, they will be winning medals,” predicted Crawford, 21, of Canmore, Alta., the younger sister of 2006 Olympic cross-country gold medallist Chandra. “You can’t build an Olympic-calibre athlete in four years. It takes 10 years.”

Myriam Bedard won all three Canadian Olympic medals when she captured gold in the 7.5-kilometre and 15-km events at the 1994 Lillehammer Games and a bronze two years earlier in Albertville. The best men’s result was in 1992 when Steve Cyr was eighth in the 10-km event.

Kocher, 27, was fourth in a World Cup pursuit in Slovenia on Dec. 21 and is buoyed by her 20-for-20 effort on the shooting range. The Red Deer, Alta., native is ranked 22nd by the International Biathlon Union and only entering her prime. She might be a better medal threat in 2014, even though she won an individual World Cup bronze in Sweden during the 2006-07 season, the only World Cup medallist on the 2010 Olympic team.

So, if patience on part of the athlete and sponsor is paramount, you have wonder if biathlon has become a second-tier national priority.

“Definitely, Canada is known for hockey,” said Kocher. “There are titles in sports, but I guess there is a tier system for funding, but I don’t necessarily feel there’s a tier system. I definitely don’t think there’s resentment.”

However, there is concern that keeping pace with the competition and slowly building on credible performances is going to get tougher. Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, 24, is the only member of the national men’s team to compete in individual events in the 2010 Olympics. Last season, he finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in World Cup events in Italy and Austria. Ranked 33rd by the IBU, the Quebec City resident could push for a podium finish in Whistler and be financially rewarded by the government. And Le Guellec is definitely a threat for 2014 in Russia.

Of course, there is the glass-half-full perspective. Tandy lauds any help the national team has derived from Own the Podium initiatives and the Olympic rookie prefers to paint a positive picture.

“It’s dangerous to take the attitude that we can’t do it because we are under-funded,” said Tandy, 21, of Prince George, B.C. “It’s tough to get there without major sponsorship, but you have to believe that you’re every bit as capable as any athlete of any country. I never tell myself, ‘OK, the German girl beside you got twice as much funding as you did.’ I choose to deal with it.”

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